RCSItogether Bulletin 16 – Carer’s Week, Procrastination, Deaf resources and Innovative Research
Dear Colleagues,
We hope everyone had a good week despite the rain. As you may know this week is National Carers Week and research shows that 55 per cent of carers juggle their caring responsibilities with their job. In the spirit of #MakingCaringVisible it’s important that we recognise those members of our RCSI community that fulfill this role while still giving so much to their work. Your contributions are greatly appreciated – we know it isn’t easy. RCSI is committed to supporting all staff and we endeavour, where possible, to provide the supports and accommodations needed in circumstances like this. If you are experiencing any challenges we would encourage you to speak with your manager or contact your HR partner who is always available to speak with you .
#RCSItogether – Learning
We’ve all become very used to using MS Teams for our meetings on a daily basis. For anyone interested in learning more about the wide range of features that MS Teams offers here’s a good course to introduce you to the wide range of features in MS Teams including auto captioning, recording and useful collaboration features such as a shared whiteboard.
Our Digitally Engaged Learning team has scheduled a great range of short sessions over the coming weeks for any colleagues wanting to increase their capability in this area – you can enrol here.
Do you struggle with procrastination? If we’re honest, we all do at some points! This podcast from Organisational Psychologist and Wharton Professor Adam Grant is a really interesting insight into why we procrastinate and what to do about it.
#RCSItogether – Health Science
This week, the focus is on some of the stellar research coming from RCSI’s Department of Physiology and Medical Physics, which has a long history of educational excellence and research innovation. The RCSI Discover blog has published a new article looking at research on the progression of mild cognitive impairment to dementia and the biomarkers that may help to predict this and inform early intervention treatment.
Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders is a significant pillar of research excellence across RCSI. You can find out more about our Principal Investigators (PIs) and their work in this field here.
#RCSItogether – Minding Others
We all might have noticed how the loss of some visual cues and facial expressions can impact everyday activities when wearing a mask. While social distancing and masks serve as barriers to the spread of COVID-19, they’ve also become a barrier in communicating, especially if you rely on lip-reading.
Communicating in a health setting such as a busy clinic or ward situation can already be difficult for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, and this can be compounded by the necessity for healthcare staff to wear face masks. The Irish Deaf Society and Chime, in partnership with the HSE, have prepared resources for use by healthcare workers and people who are deaf or hard of hearing. These can be found here and include guidelines for staff, communication supports and videos in Irish Sign Language.
#RCSItogether – Minding Yourself
As part of their on-going collaboration with HSE Mental Health, Silvercloud Health has made four of their online mental health and wellbeing programs free to access for all health sector staff and volunteers. The four programs cover: Stress; Sleep; Resilience; and Challenging Times, and were developed in response to COVID-19. These programs, which are self-directed, feature evidence based content in a series of modules that draw on well-established interventions such as cognitive behavioural therapy. The HSE and Silvercloud want to ensure that the wider health sector can avail of the programmes. To find out more and to access the content, please visit the dedicated landing page and please remember to use the access code HSE2020.
For those who missed the EAP Orientation for Employees webinar last month, this session is now available to view on our VHI webportal. This session is intended to provide an overview of the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) benefit. The webportal is available to all staff with resources and information on topics such as Stress Management, Health and Wellbeing,
Bereavement, Finances and dealing with debt and Relationships. It also includes a dedicated area for managers, offering advice on a range of topics such as coaching, performance management, time management and conflict resolution. To access this free webservice, please click here. You will need a username and password to enter the site:
Username: VHIrcsi
Password: VHIEAP.001
Finally thanks for the quote submitted by a colleague to share this week:
“Don’t cry over the past, it’s gone. Don’t stress about the future, it hasn’t arrived yet. Live in the present and make it beautiful”.
Take care of yourselves and each other,
Barry and the HR Team